Homophobia

TITLE: Homophobia
DATE: March 2011
PRICE: Mauritania Ougulya (MRO) 3,000,000
PREFERRED BUYER: Nouakchott Museum, Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania
CONDITIONS OF SALE: The painting has to be exhibited free of charge continuously until homosexuality is decriminalized in Mauritania.
TECHNIQUE: Oil on canvas, unframed.
DIMENSIONS: 65 x 45 cm
STORY: This painting is a perfect example of the AbFab style. Two circles, two rectangles and two triangles can be arranged in any number of ways, some of them plausibly more pleasing to the eye, but they can hardly be used to tell a more complex story. Two biological signs for male are used here in two different shades of blue, their arrows touching as a symbol of homosexual physical love. This is further emphasized by the pink background. However, their arrows are touching at such an angle that the triangles create the Star of David, suggesting that one prejudice is usually accompanied with another. There are still many parts of the world where people are discriminated based on their colour, religion or sexual preferences. Homosexuality is illegal in some 80 countries, and five carry the death penalty for homosexual activity: Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Homophobia and anti-Semitism were linked together in many oppressed societies through much of the European history, and can still be witnessed today in some subcultures. Homosexuals were one of the many groups alongside Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust. People can certainly change their religion easily, some have even managed to change their sexuality (Yukio Mishima, for example) or colour (Michael Jackson), but stupidity seems to stays forever. Some of the major centers of sponsored homophobia have been targeted by many liberal artists, but AbFab promotes targeting even the smallest ones. Asking price for this painting is roughly equivalent to the number of inhabitants of Mauritania, which may all be homosexual for what we know.